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Lessons learned

After wearing my 18th century outfit for four or five hours yesterday, I think I've learned some things about fit, etc. that I can take into account the next time I make something.

Shift:
- the neckline should be much wider, like almost-falling-off-my-shoulders wider

Stays:
- the problem I'm having, shape-wise, seems to be stemming from the fact that the armscye is too large and there's nothing pushing my bust in from the sides, just up from the front. This is a good thing to notice
- I boned every channel with one reed, and am not having any problems with breakage
- the reeds are starting to mold to my shape with body heat, which is really cool

Petticoats:
- my underpetticoat is just too long. If I tie it under my stays, it shown beneath the top petticoat; if I tie it over, it interferes with the top one somehow
- my top petticoat is too wide in the waist, so the it slips down below the waistband of the underpetticoat (when tied over stays)
- the pocket slit on the open side of my top petticoat is way too long
- the fullnesses are just right, though

Jacket:
- side seams should be side-back seams, of course
- 18th century armscyes need to be right up into the underarm on the bottom, and into the back on the top. Especially if you scaled up the sleeve pattern so that the sleevehead is only the right shape for that
- it kept falling off my shoulders, maybe because of the sleeves or maybe some other fit issue
- the hook and eye at the bottom CF kept coming unhooked because the waist was slightly large
- the stomacher should be a little stiffer, I think, and wider
- the cuffs were too light, needed an interlining of some sort, and could have been smaller